Wall construction



Aug. 16, 1938. R. w. GILBERT WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed April 7, 1936,frauen oi'f,

'Patented Aug. 16, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE y WALL CONSTRUCTIONRoyce W. Gilbert, Brookline, Mass.

Application April 7, 1936, Serial No. 73,084

v19 claims. Y- (ci. z2-16) This invention relates to buildingconstruction and particularly to an improved wall constructionapplicable not only to the side walls of a room but also to theceilings.

The usual wall of a room is constructed of plaster laid on laths. Thisplaster construction is used almost universally except on very cheapdwelling houses but is expensive by reason of the cost of the laths,plaster and labor, and "the time necessary to dry the plaster coats.Furthermore,

a plaster wall is liable to crack and fall.

Wall board of many different forms has been used for cheap houses but isobjectionable in many respects. It is noisy as it responds like a drumto a blow. 'I'he joints between the wall board panels and the heads ofnails that secure the panels to the studding have been objectionablyvisible heretofore through any surface ornamentation as paint or wallpaper. Many wall board panels also warp and creep out of shape.

Notwithstanding the objections to wall boards, the material isattractive for a wall construction by reason of its cheapness and theease and speed of applying it.

A form of wall board consisting of a short panel or slab, usually ofcommercial gypsum, about 16' x 48" in width andrlength, and termedgypsum lath, has been employed as a wall and has received a facing ofplaster. This type of construction, while presenting some advantages,yet is open to many of the criticisms of the above-mentioned types ofwalls.

A pre-formed rigid one-piece panel having the dimensions of the wall andcapable of being applied to the supporting frame of the room isimpractical in the present state of the art because of installation andother diflculties. It is an object of this invention to provide a wall,and especially a facing sheet for the wall, that has as great dimensionsas is necessary and practicable so that it can cover the entire face ofthe wall or as much of the entire face as is convenient, that isinitially exible -so that it can be handled readily, and can be in rollform, ii desired, and can be rendered 45 stift in place on the wall tobridge over joints andA 5 a supporting wall structure comprising wallboards of commercial gypsum laths or similar material, laid withconfronting edges and overlaid with a broad areared relatively thickfacing sheet overlying several or preferably all of the underlyingpanels and the joints therebetween and attached to the panels by anadhesive which when dry becomes stift and stiiens the facing sheet tosuch a degree that it bridges over the joints between and depressions inthe underlying panels leaving the interior of the facing sheet ileidbleto the necessary extent.

Another object is generally to provide an improved wall construction forrooms of buildings.

Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview of the interior of a room illustrating themanner of constructing the wall in accordance with the presentinvention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional detail illustrating the joint between a pair ofwall board panels and the manner in which the surface felt is appliedover the joint.

Fig. 3 is a perspective detail illustrating the wall construction andshowing the manner in which wall paper can be applied thereto.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail through the frame of a window andillustrating the outer facing of the felt as a gasket or weather stripbetween the wall and the window frame.

A series of panels i6, which can be gypsum laths, are secured to thestudding or frame members I8 in any usual or suitable manner, theconfronting edges of the panels or laths being in approximate abuttingrelation and forming joints 20 therebetween. The panels are usuallylonger than their width and can be laid on the studding in any directionthat will cover the studding with the least cutting and waste. 'Ihepanels on the Wall l0 are illustrated as being horizontal while on thewall l2 some are horizontal and some are vertical. The joints 20 neednot be close although they are preferably no more open than isnecessary. If the panels are gypsum laths they are usually approximately16" x 48" in width and length respectively by 1/2" Vthickness composedof commercial gypsum and enclosed within paper Wrappings 22, as in Fig.2. The edges, particularly the long edges, may be constructed to providean interlocking tongue and groove joint 24, although such a joint is notessential to the present invention.

'I'he panels I6 cover the studs I8 preferably to the floor 26 though ifdesired they may leave a slight gap. The gap may be covered by a baseboard which will be higher than the gap.

4 In accordance with the present invention the panels I6 are faced witha facing sheet 30 which preferably has as much surface area as isconvenient to handle, or suitable, and when applied to the panels,overlies a number ofjoints there between.

y. The facing sheet is characterized by being in v itially flexible sothat -it can be handled readily,

and formed into a roll when desired for convenience. The sheet also issuch that it is adapted t be stiff enough when permanently attached tothe wall so that it presents a smooth outer face exposed to the interiorof the room and bridges over the joints between and depressions in thepanels while at the same timeI being exible enough to resist withoutinjury a blow that would not harm a plaster wall andrtopermitdifferential expansion and .contraction of the sheet and the underlyingpanels.

The facing sheet preferably is relatively thick, say l", and can well bethicker for some purposes. It can also be thinner but preferably is notless than 11;" thick and for most purposes is thicker. .The sheet is afelt sheet and composed preferably largely of cotton rag stock, withsome waste paper filler and is conveniently made by paper makingmethods. Other fibres producing asimilar felt may be used, for example,asbestos. The felt fibres are preferably closely compacted so that thefelt is relatively dense as it naturally is when made by paper makingmethods but yet is flexible so that it can be wound in roll form andwill absorb a suitable amount of a cement and a sizing or at least makea tight contact therewith.

' The felt sheet is as wide and long as is convenient and preferably hassuch dimensions that it overlies the joints between several or all thepanels. When the height of the wall corresponds to a width to which thefelt sheet can be manufactured conveniently the width of the felt sheetcan be approximately the height of the wall,.or the paneled sectionthereof, so that a single strip .of felt is sufficient to extend fromlthe ceiling to under the base board. When the dimensions of the walland the conveniently available widths of felt do not suitably match, twoor more felt sheets may be used, and their confronting edges broughtinto abutting relation. This construction is illustrated in Fig. l wherethe ceiling 32 is faced with two facing sheets 30 Ahaving their edgesabutted at 34. The joint 34 can be made no more conspicuous than thejoint between strips of wall paper.

'Ille felt sheet is preferred to be long enough to cover all walls ofthe room without jointing except where the ends of the sheet are abuttedtogether. Such a long sheet is impracticable at times, however, and thesheet then can be long enough to extend the length of a wall andterminate in the opposite corners thereof. When necessary or desirable,however, the sheet can be terminated between the corners, asinconspicuous joints can be made in the facing.

The top and bottom edges of the facing sheet can be terminated under asuitable trim, as the base board 33 at the oor anda moulding 35 at theceiling.

The facing sheet preferably is applied to the wall from a ro1l 36thereof. In Fig. 1 the facing sheet is wide enough to extend from theceiling to about three or four inches from the oor 26, where the loweredge will underlie the usual base bOard. Y

The sheet is cemented to the faces of the panels Ii by a cement whichforms a hard rigid mass or thick film when solidified. The cement Iprefer is sodium silicate, because that is very tacky when laid but willharden in a, very short time and form with the inner surface of the feltand the outer surface of the wall board a stiff sheet, making a firmand-durable union with the gypsum laths, which will conceal the jointsand will withstand any ordinary blow. Other cements which willaccomplish similar results may be used. for instance, potassium silicateor other cement which can be applied in substantially the mannerdescribed and will render the felt in contact with the exterior of theWall board stiff enough to cover the joints of the Vwall board in themanner described without destroying the flexible nature of the remainderof the felt. Such cements which will accomplish these results toa'considerable degree are well known, for instance, a

' resin called Vinylitef and also certain casein cements but sodiumsilicate is much the best that I know for my purpose. It seems to besurprisingly good in resisting water as herein used.

A convenient way to apply the felt is as follows. The roll of felt ispartly unrolled to provide a short lengthof sheet. The roll is heldagainst the ceiling by an operative, the lower edge of the roll beingheld away from the floor and the wall. The upper edge part of the feltis aligned with the ceiling -by a second operative and is pressedagainst the face of the panels to which the cement has been applied.Cement is applied to the panels ahead of the roll as the roll isunrolled, until the roll is entirely unwound and the sheet reaches theoppositecorner of the Wall. The sheet is then pressed smoothly intointimate contact with the wall throughout its area. If the sheet islonger than the length of a wall the sheet is pressed smoothly into thecorner by a straight edge or other suitable tool. Obviously othermethods may be used for applying the felt.

The facing sheet preferably is unrolled across any openings in the wall,as the door 38 and window 40, the sheet at the door and window beingsubsequently cut out. While it is possible to form the sheet withopenings for the doors and windows prior to the application of the sheetlto the wall this method makes the sheet more dimcult to handle' and isotherwise objectionable so that it is preferred to cover up the openingsand afterwards cut out the sheet at the openings. At the frames of theopenings, such as the window frame 42, the felt sheet 30 has a part 30awhich overlies the inner face of the opening and is subsequentlyintended to underlie a part 44 of the window casing applied thereover soas to form a nearly wind tight joint between the frame and the Wall. Thesame construction can be applied to the top and bottom edge portions ofthe sheet. Thus a tighter wall construction is obtained than iscustomarily formed by the usual manner with wall board or plaster.

The cement by which the felt' is attached to the panels preferably has aconsistency such that it penetrates the inner face of the felt onlyslightly and hardens therein and thereover and between it and the panelsor their wrapping 22 so as to render the felt stiff and capable ofbridging over the joints between the panels and also indentations ordepressions such as are formed by nail heads and the like withoutcausing the presence of these joints or irregularities to be renderedvisible at the outer face of the sheet. The cement, however, should notbe too fluid, as it will be absorbed in too great a degree by the feltand thus penetrate the felt sheet too deeply. For a sodium silicatecement a concentration of about 42% solid matter is satisfactory, theremainder belngwater.

I havefound that if the exposed face of the felt is treated with a sizesuch as a hard cut with alcohol the surface will be made uch harder andmore wear resistant and will take surface ornamentation readily.

While the facing sheetis rigid to bridge over any unevenness of oropening in the joints bctween and depressions in the panels the innerregion of the felt is intended to be relatively flexible. Thus the feltsheet and the panels can come y and go without the facing sheetcracking.

The felt sheet provides a smooth exposed face free from the joints orirregularities of the panel construction and can receive any desirablesurface ornamentation. A size should be used which is best suited forthe nature of the ornamentation. The size should preferably seal theouter surface of the felt against material from within which mightdiscolor or injure the exterior finish. The sized inner face can bepainted or the usual strips of wall paper 46 can be applied thereto, asillustrated in Fig. 3. The joints between abutting edges of the feltsheets can be made unnoticeable since the sheet is of uniform thicknessand is cemented to-the face of a panel.

The felt sheet deadens the panels so that they are not as noisy as thepanels without the sheet.

The present wall construction is also a good insulation against cold, reand sound. The wall is cheaper in materials and cost of application thanany other good nish of which I am aware. It is suitable for the mostexpensive house and is superior to plaster.

In this specification the term wall board is used broadly to include theusual commercial paper Wrapped gypsum or any sheet suitable for theinterior of a wall construction. The invention is described withparticular relation to a wall board of commercial gypsum lath as that isthe best embodiment of the invention now known to me because of its manyadvantages but the invention is useable although less satisfactorilywith any wall board suitable for a wall partition, for instance, aheavy, stiff pulp wall board or laminated sheet of cellulosic materials.Such sheets should be non-warping and should preferably be fireresistant and water-proofed.

The term felt includes a number of felt sheets.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of my wall construction is that it may beapplied to a room of ordinary size in less than a day and the room willbe ready for the interior finish to be applied on the next day, Whereasordinary plaster requires a drying period seldom as short as threeweeks.

If this wall construction is injured by leakage of water or otherwisebefore the exterior finish is applied it may be readily repaired in afew minutes, for instance, by forcing additional cement under the feltand rolling or pressing it into place.

Air bubbles may also be readily removed by withdrawing the bubbles ofair or liquid by a suitable tool and then rolling or pressing the feltinto place.

Gypsum laths respond to a blow-like a drum. This drum effect is Veryobjectionable. My invention to a large extent remedies this fault owingto the use of the felt above described.

I claim:

1. A room wall comprised of a multiplicity of juxtaposed blocksproviding a jointed wall face, and a broad thick felted wall facingsheet attached to the wall face by a cement which forms a. hard s tliTsheet that stiffens the inner surface of said facing sheet and enablesit to bridge ove depressions and joints in the wall face.

2. A wall construction comprising a. plurality of wall panels havingconfronting edges and a. broad thick felted facing sheet attached to thewall panels by a -cement lwhich imparts stiffness to the inner surfaceof said facing sheet to enable it to bridge over the joints between thepanels.

3. Room wall construction comprising a plurality of panels disposed withconfronting edges, a felt covering said panels and attached thereto byacement which hardens to form a stiff sheet, the felt being composed ofan originally flexible sheet of fibrous material made rigid by thecement at thesurface confronting the panels, the stiff felt covering andbridging over the joints between and irregularities of the panels.

4. Room wall construction comprising a plurality of panels disposed withconfronting edges, a felt covering said panels and attached thereto by acement which hardens to form a stiff sheet, the felt being composed ofan originally flexible sheet of fibrous material made stiff by thecement at the surface confronting the panels, the stiff felt coveringand bridging over the joints between and irregularities of the panels,the felt having a ilexible interior. A

5. Room wall construction comprising a plurality of panels disposed withconfronting edges, a felt covering said panels and attached thereto by acement which hardens to form a stiff sheet, the felt being composed ofan originally flexible sheet of fibrous material made sti'if by thecement at the surface confronting the panels, the stiff felt coveringand bridging over the joints between and irregularities of the panels,the felt having a size on its outer surface and a flexible interior.

6. Room wall construction formed of suitable supporting materials,gypsum sheets attached thereto, a felt covering the sheets andattachedl/ to the exterior surface thereof by a 'cement of sodiumsilicate which dries to form a stiffl 45 glassy sheet between the feltand the gypsum sheets causing them -to adhere together, the felt beingcomposed of an originally flexible sheet of fibrous material made stiffby the cement at the surface in contact with the gypsum sheets, the feltcovering the joints and irregularifies of the sheets.

7. Room wall construction formed of suitable supporting materials,gypsum sheets attached thereto, a felt covering the sheets and attachedto the exterior surface thereof by a cement which dries to form a stiffglassy durable sheet between the felt and the gypsum sheets causing themto adhere together, the felt being composed of an originally flexiblesheet of fibrous material made stiff by the cement at the surface incontact with the gypsum sheets, the

felt covering the joints and irregularities of the sheets.

8. Room wall construction formed of suitable supporting materials,gypsum sheets attached thereto, a felt covering the sheets and attachedto the exterior surface thereof by a cement which dries to form a stiffglassy durable sheet between the felt and the gypsum sheets causing themto adhere together, the felt being composed of an originally exiblesheet of fibrous material made stiff by the cement at the surface incontact with the gypsum sheets, the felt covering the joints andirregularities of the sheets, said felt having a` sizing on the outersurface adapting the surface to receive surface ornamentation.

9. Room Wall construction formed of suitable supporting materials,gypsumk sheets attached thereto, a felt covering th sheets and attachedto the exterior surface thereof by a cement which dries to form a stiffglassy durable sheet between the felt and the gypsum sheets causing themto adhere together, the felt being composed of an originally flexiblesheet of fibrous material made .rigid by the cement at the surface incontact with the gypsum sheets, the felt covering the joints andirregularities of the sheets, said felt having asizing on the outersurface adapting the surface to receive surface ornamentation, and sealthe outer surface of the felt against materials which might discolor orinjure the surface ornamentation.

10. A wall construction comprising a plurality of resonant wall panelshaving confronting edges that are disposed in approximate abuttingrelation, and a broad panel-deadening felted facing sheet adherentlyunited with said wall panels and traversing and being continuous betweenthe joints thereof.

11. A wall construction comprising a plurality of Wall boards havingconfronting edges disposed in approximately abutting relation, and afelted facing sheet cemented to said wall boards and traversing andbeing continuous between the joints thereof, said felted facing sheethaving a stiff inner face portion that confronts the Wall boards and arelatively yieldable interior portion.

12. A wall construction comprising a plurality of wall boards havingconfronting edges that are disposed in approximate abutting relation,and a broad felted facing sheet adherently united with said wall boardsand traversing and being continuous between the joints thereof, saidfelted facing sheet having a width approximately coextensive with theheight of the exposed face of the wall.

13. A wall construction comprising a plurality of wall boards havingconfronting edges disposed in approximately abutting relation, and afelted facing sheet cemented to said wall boards and traversing andbeing continuous between the joints thereof, said facing sheet having astiff inner face portion that confronts the wall boards and a relativelyyieldable outer face portion, said facing sheet having a widthapproximately co-extensive with the height of the exu posed face of theWall.

to said panels by a hard drying, non-penetrating cement, said facingsheet constituting anti-drumming means and having an exterior surfaceadapted to receive surface ornamentation.

16. The method of facing a room wall which is made up of a multiplicityof juxtaposed blocks of resonant material which comprises applying tothe face of the wall and across the junction points of the blocks athick felte'd facing sheet that is initially flexible, and treating thesheet to render its surface in contact with the blocks rigid byattaching the sheet to the wall by a cement which hardens to a stiffdurable sheet on the facing sheet which bridges and conceals theirregulari-v ties at junction points of the blocks and forms a wallwhich damps the resonance of the blocks to eliminate largely theirobjectionable vibrations.

17. The method of facing a room wall having an opening therein and awindow frame in the opening, which method comprises cementing to theface of the wall a facing sheet that is approximately coextensive withthe exposed height of the wall, traversing the windowl frame with thefacing sheet, and subsequently removing material of the sheet within theopening of said frame to expose the opening in said frame and to leave apart of the facing sheet overlapping said frame.

18. The method of facing a room wall with a facing sheet that isapproximately coextensive with the exposed height of the wall and isinitially in roll form, placing the roll against the wall with the rollaxis vertical, progressively unrolling the roll on the wall, andapplying cement to the wall ahead of the roll to cause the sheet toadhere thereto as it unrolls.

19. Room Wall construction comprising the combination of a plurality ofpanels disposed with confronting edges, and a wall facing comprising athick felt cemented to and covering said panels, said felt beingsufficiently flexible to be stored in roll form and unrolled from theroll in applying it to the wall and sufliciently rigid when on the wallto bridge over and conceal the location of the joints between the panelsand to resist without damage the contraction and expansion of the wallsand blows that would not damage the usual plaster facing.

ROYCE W. GILBERT.

